The word you are referring to is nigger. It’s a bad word that can be very offensive. It’s horrible to use it in a derogatory way, but I feel that it’s ridiculous in at least halfway intelligent conversation no one white even dare ever write it, let alone say it.
As if white people have enforced themselves to just pretend the word has magic powers and it is the one who shall not be named.
That’s giving an enormous amount of power over people who want to control language in a inherently racist way (your skin color determines your ability to say a word).
I refuse to accept that this amount of power extends to typing the word as a discussion of it.
There are two things I can't quite comprehend as someone who's not from the US.
* Why exactly the n-word is exclusive to black people. In my mind, either no one uses the word if it's offensive, or everyone can use it in a neutral way. I don't know of any other single word which is gatekept.
I mean, I never want to use it, so it's not about that. I guess it has to do with pride and being able to use a word which was once used to insult you. Maybe it gives power, don't know. But it can't be that clear, seeing as how the whole world seems to be confused about the reasoning and usage of this word.
Essentially, I don't really mind that I can't say it, but I just don't understand it.
* Cultural appropriation - I see people get cancelled for wearing, eating or celebrating things which aren't "from their culture". This is so shocking to me and sounds like something fashists would say. "Keep to your cultures and races", wtf? It also seems to be very one-sided. I understand it if we talk about sacred things, native american headwear as an example. But things like food, hair styles and certain clothing? Just seems to divide people more.
Isn't it a better sign if I as a white dude like other cultures food, clothing etc.? That should signal to these cultures that I appreciate, accept and like them, right?
Again, I'm white and from europe and I know that these are very sensitive and hot topics.
This. I'm as left wing as they come, and agree wholeheartedly with 99% of the current far-left discourse. But some of this "cultural appropriation" stuff is just nuts.
As far as I can tell, the only case where "cultural appropriation" is legitimately bad, is when people turn another culture's symbols of accomplishment into a fashion accessory. This is the case with the Native American headdress, where every feather represents a milestone or accomplishment, and Maori life tattoos, where every tattoo represents an event out of that person's own life. Turning that into your own fashion statement without any respect for the cultural meaning, is like wearing a Purple Heart you didn't earn, except that that purple heart doesn't have the same spiritual/cultural meaning.
But stuff like yoga, jazz/hip-hop, or even food? There it turns into an argument for cultural segregation, where minority cultures are effectively not allowed to become mainstream.
Exactly, I just noticed that the line of what's right and what's wrong is pretty fluid on Twitter. See some people get called out even just for eating food which isn't from their culture. Or a girl wearing an oriental dress to prom while being white. Just all things which seem to be Pro-[Insert Culture].
I'd rather have people eat food, wear clothes and hairstyles from other cultures instead of saying "I hate X-Cultures-food and/or clothing."
As you said, there are of course things which should be considered bad. You mentioned native american headdresses, which I think is a good example. But dreadlocks, cornrows? Come on....
Dreadlocks are quite interesting in this regard. If you were to consider them as having specific religious/cultural value, then they'd be specific not so much to black people, but either to Rastafarians, or to any adherent of an Abrahamic religion who has taken the Nazarite Vow, which is associated with the biblical figure Samson, and means you don't cut your hair, and abstain from alcohol and contact with corpses, and possibly a few other things.
But knotting into dreadlocks is also something that hair just does naturally if you don't comb it.
That's also a good point. Some just look at specific times in history when something was exclusive to a culture, ignoring that earlier or at the same time other cultures had the same things.
Same boat as you. I would call myself a socialist, or at least on the very left spectrum. Put an LGBTQI+ flag on my balcony to show support, try to talk to people about BLM issues in my country etc.
But cultural appropriation is really something I don't understand/can't get behind...
> But cultural appropriation is really something I don't understand/can't get behind...
I think that the cultural appropriation is a legitimate concern, and certainly problematic. I was just agreeing with you, that this legitimate concern is sometimes used to criticize natural and harmless things, like braiding your hair or eating certain types of cuisine.
Some of the people who defend this are so over the top that they seem "double agents". Like those who harass others that wear dreadlocks while being of the wrong race. Seriously, what the fuck. What kind of reaction do they expect for their actions, other than a visceral rejection of the whole concept of cultural appropriation?
I think cultural appropriation contains two elements. One is the concern about Western colonailism, which I can't address because it gets into critical race theory and that's a huge subject I don't completely follow.
You can peel off a far simpler concern that culutural heritage can be lost or devolve. France, for instance, goes to some lengths to preserve the French language. I went to some Scottish heritage group, and we all dressed up in kilts and ate haggis and such.
And it's a tough problem. Getting people on board with preserving cultural heritage is hard, especially because young people are precisely the ones you need to attract, and they tend to want to do things that are new and exciting.
I don’t need to go point by point, but just know that you get it exactly. It’s exactly here what it seems there. It only “makes sense” to a specific subgroup of people with a specific intention.
> Why exactly the n-word is exclusive to black people.
It's...not.
> Isn't it a better sign if I as a white dude like other cultures food, clothing etc.? That should signal to these cultures that I appreciate, accept and like them, right?
While I personally think some of the specific complaints of cultural appropriation that are made are...well, let's just say not things that I personally think are as problematic as the people raising the complaints seem to, still, no, decontextualized mimicry of isolated elements of culture, or similar consumption of products of the culture, while participating in structures of oppression of the people whose culture is being mined for your entertainment isn't seen by any audience, within or without the exploited culture, as a sign of appreciating, accepting, or liking either the culture (which is an abstract aggregate) or, more critically, the concrete people in the culture.
You sure about that? Is that really something debatable?
Thanks for trying to explain cultural appropriation, I don't know if my english is not good enough or if your explanation is really difficult to understand, but I didn't really get it, sorry :)
Want to bet that scene would be entirely different today with Chan taking a sensitivity class instead of smashing up a black business and beating the crap out of black people who attacked him for his innocent but now “problematic” cultural mistake?
“His cultural appropriation of “that“ word was an act of violence itself, in the movie they were initially defending themselves from Chan. This must be canceled and never aired again. This 24 year old movie is clearly reflective of Chan’s personal beliefs and he must apologize with a sizable donation to “the cause” which conveniently are all ActBlue affiliated charities”
As if white people have enforced themselves to just pretend the word has magic powers and it is the one who shall not be named.
That’s giving an enormous amount of power over people who want to control language in a inherently racist way (your skin color determines your ability to say a word).
I refuse to accept that this amount of power extends to typing the word as a discussion of it.